State health officials in Iowa are launching a suicide prevention plan which aims to reduce the number of self-inflicted deaths statewide ten-percent by the year 2018. Pat McGovern, the state’s suicide prevention coordinator, says the plan has goals that include reducing the stigma or judgment of those who talk about mental health and suicide, as well as identifying ways to involve everyone in the state in the prevention process…..
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McGovern says the state prevention plan outlines what various sectors of the community can do to contribute….
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An average of about 400 people in Iowa have taken their own lives in each of the past three years. In 2013, the state health department says 445 Iowans died by suicide, the highest number in 25 years. Last year, the number dipped to 392. McGovern says the ultimate goal is zero deaths by suicide by increasing awareness of warning signs and offering better support and compassion for those who have survived suicide attempts and for loss survivors.